Daily Reading for Wednesday, June 4th, 2014

Reading 1, Acts 20:28-38

28 'Be on your guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you the guardians, to feed the Church of God which he bought with the blood of his own Son.

29 'I know quite well that when I have gone fierce wolves will invade you and will have no mercy on the flock.

30 Even from your own ranks there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow them.

31 So be on your guard, remembering how night and day for three years I never slackened in counselling each one of you with tears.

32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace that has power to build you up and to give you your inheritance among all the sanctified.

33 'I have never asked anyone for money or clothes;

34 you know for yourselves that these hands of mine earned enough to meet my needs and those of my companions.

35 By every means I have shown you that we must exert ourselves in this way to support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, who himself said, "There is more happiness in giving than in receiving." '

36 When he had finished speaking he knelt down with them all and prayed.

37 By now they were all in tears; they put their arms round Paul's neck and kissed him;

38 what saddened them most was his saying they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 68:29-30, 33-35, 35-36

29 from your temple high above Jerusalem. Kingswill come to you bearing tribute.

30 Rebuke the Beast of the Reeds, that herd of bulls, that people of calves, who bow down with ingots of silver. Scatter the people who delight in war.

33 the Rider of the Heavens, the primeval heavens.Pause There he speaks, with a voice of power!

34 Acknowledge the power of God. Over Israel his splendour, in the clouds his power.

35 Awesome is God in his sanctuary. He, the God of Israel, gives strength and power to his people. Blessed be God.

Gospel, John 17:11-19

11 I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us.

12 While I was with them, I kept those you had given me true to your name. I have watched over them and not one is lost except one who was destined to be lost, and this was to fulfil the scriptures.

13 But now I am coming to you and I say these things in the world to share my joy with them to the full.

14 I passed your word on to them, and the world hated them, because they belong to the world no more than I belong to the world.

15 I am not asking you to remove them from the world, but to protect them from the Evil One.

16 They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

17 Consecrate them in the truth; your word is truth.

18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world,

19 and for their sake I consecrate myself so that they too may be consecrated in truth.

Bible Resources

The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated "directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic." The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only "where the text admits to more than one interpretation." Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. "New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition", pg. v.